Improvement in repeating ordnance



3 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. C. G. KELLOGG.

Machifie Gun. No. 40,540. Patented Nov. 3, 1863.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 3 E. C. C. KELLOGG.

Machine Gun.

No. 40,540. Patented Nov, 3, 1863.

Witnesses. Inventor.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

nnnnnznn o. c. KELLOGG, on HARTFORD, connnorrou'r, AssIeNoa TO HIMSELF nn JAMESO. CAMPBELL, or new YORK, n. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN REP'E'ATINGORDNANCE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,540, dated November 3, 1863.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, EBENEZER O. 0.. KEL- LOGG, of the city and county of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Repeating Ordnance; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accom 'panying drawings, forming part of this specisection of the same directly in rear of the recoil-shield. Fig. 4 is a plan of the firing-lever. Fig. 5 is an under side view of one of the manychambered slides. v

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the use, in combi nation with a stationary barrel, of a series of many-chambered slides moving transversely to such barrel for the purpose of effecting a rapidly-repeated fire through such barrel.

It consist, first, in the employment, incombination with a series of, such slides, of two connected barrels arranged side by side and so applied and operated that either of such barrels may be brought to the position for use, and that each, after having had several rounds fired through it, may be cooled while the other is in use.

It also consists in certain improved means of producing the necessary movements of the many-chambered slides to present their chambers in succession opposite the stationary barrel, and of cooking and letting off a hammer to produce the explosion of the charges in the chambers as they severally arrive opposite to the barrel; and it further consists in certain improved means of adjusting'the elevation of the piece.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction andoperation.

A isa frame forming the principal portion of the carriage, supported upon the axle F by B, B are the two barrels,

the frame A, and attached securely toaplate,

0,which is fitted to slide transversely under the said frame, and which serves to hold down the barrels thereon. The barrels are secured rigidly at their rear ends to the frame 0 by screws 0.- or other means; but they are attached to the front part of the said frame by means of two bands, D D, to which they fit easily for the purpose of permitting their longitudinal expansion as they become heated by repeated firing. The plate 0 is operated by means of a transversely-applied screw, E, to move it and the barrels transversely to the frame A, for the purpose of bringing either barrel to the central position for firing. This. movement is limited, to prevent them from passing the above position, by means of stops b b on the back part of the frame. Figs. 1 and 2 represent the barrel B in the central or operative position.

Along theback part of the frame A there is a stout upward projection, c, which constitutes the breech or recoil-shield, between which and the open rear ends of the barrels the straight many-chambered sides G G work in a direction at right angles to the length of the barrels. Thescslides should preferably have their chambers 11 d bored right through them, for loading with fixed ammunition of similar character to that now commonly usedin revolving and breech-loadin g small-arms, and thus obviate the necessity for priming or capping the gun. The said slides may be of any length; but I propose generally to make them of a length a little greater than half of the extreme width of the carriage, and when made of this length three slides'might be sufficient for one piece of ordnance, allowing one to be loaded while the other two are in the piece. A larger number may, however, be provided to insure anewly-loaded one being always in readiness to put in as soon as all the chambers in one which is in the piece are discharged, and to allow time for the cooling after firing. The slides are guided to and from the barrels by means ofrollerse c,which are held by springs ff, secured to the frame A, the said rollers pressing against the front faces of the slides and holding them back against the breech or recoil-shield. On the upper sides of the slides movement of the sides G G.

there are series of ratchet-teeth g g, extending from end to end. d

H is a plate, which may be termed a pawlcarrier, carrying the pawls k and l, which opcrate on the ratchet-teeth g g to produce the This pawl-carrier is secured to the top of the breech or recoil shield c by means of screws h h, but slotted as shown at i i, Fig. 1, where the screws pass through it to permit it to have the necessary movement back and forth to produce the proper action of the pawls upon the ratchetteeth. The pawl k is a straight or pushing pawl, and l is a hooked or pulling pawl. The object of employing two pawls is that one may take hold of the incoming chambered slide be- ,fore the other lets go of the outgoing one.

The pawl-carrier is operated by means of a" hand-lever, I, with which it is connected by a rod, H, and which works on a fixed fulcrum, m, at the back of the frame A, and this lever seems also to effect the cooking and letting 0E vof the hammer J, by which the firing is efi'ectthe hammer cocked, works on a pin, 1), in the hanger K, and has applied to it a spring, p,

- to press its sear against the tumbler. The

hammer strikes upon a pin, L,'which works through the breech or recoil-shield c. This pin is attached to the back of the breech or recoil-shield by means of a spring, L, which draws back the said pin after the hammer has been drawn or forced back far enough to free it. The said pin is made with a point or small inner end, as shown at r in Fig. 2, to vindent the flanges of the cartridges and fire the percussion-priming. The spring is attached to the breech by a screw, L, which admits of its being readily removed with the pin L attached. This is for enabling a false pin, without any point, r, to be quickly substituted for the true pin L in case of its becoming necessary to abandon the gun, and so not only rendering the gun useless in case of its falling into the hands of the enemy, but rendering it very difficult to ascertain what is the reason of its not operating. d

N, Fig. 2, is a dog for cocking the hammer, made with a notched or forked upper end to receive a horn, q, formed on the tumbler ot'the hammer, and attached at its lower end to a pivot, S, which is formed upon the extremity of a lever, N, which is arranged to work on a fulcrum, s, under the breech. This lever N is connected by a link, N, with the short nearly-horizontalarm l of the hand-lever I, so that by moving the upper part or handle of the said lever to the right the dog may be pressed upward against the horn got the tumbler, and 80 caused to cock the hammer. The dog N has applied to it a spring, N, which allows it to vibrate as much as is necessary on the pivot S, but prevents it from dropping out to operate in a similar. manner'to the'spring of a jack-knife, and hold the blade firmly either at right angles to the adjacent portion of the lever, as shown in black outline in Fig. 1,

or straight with the said portion of the lever, 1

as shown in dotted outline in the same figure. When the handle of the lever P is moved to the left the lower part of the said lever acts I against the obliquely-arranged portion a of the edge of the lever]? and pushes it forward,and by this means the tongue I, when in the position relatively to the lever shown in Fig. 4, is pushed back endwise against the trigger, and 'so caused to let off the hammer. If it should not be desired to repeat the fire with great rapidity, but to take deliberate aim at an object, after having moved the chambered slides to present a loaded chamber opposite the barrel and brought the hammer to its cocked position, by moving the handle of the lever to the right the tongue P is set in the position shown in red outline, which does not allow it to act on the trigger, and afterjjthe movement of the handle of the lever to the right aim is taken and the hammer is let off by pulling the trigger by hand. A

R is a stop-lever working on the same fulcrum pin, 8, with the cocking-lever N. This lever B carries a stop-pin, c, which passes through the frame A and enters enact a series of holes or notches, w w, Fig. 5, in the under side of the slides G G,to lock the operating slide with one of its chambers opposite to I and in line with the bore .of the operating harrel. The holes or notches w to correspond in number and in distance apart with theehaim bers dd. The leverR has applied to it a spring, R, which exerts aconstant tendency to force it upward, and hence keeps the stop-pine in one of the holes or notches w to at the time of firing a chamber.

The hand-lever I has provided upon its lower part a stud or projection, Y, which acts upon the upper edge of the lever B to depress it and withdraw the stop-pin from the slide G as the movement of the said lever necessary to move the slide is commenced; but the said edge of the lever B is so formed that the said lever is allowed to be forced upward suddenly by the spring R to stop the slide. as soon as a new charge being produced by every-movement of the needle back and forth, and this may be continued without interruption until the barrel in use becomes so much heated as to render it desirable to cool it. One man should stand on the right side of the gun to receive the discharged slides G G as fast as they are delivered from that side of the machine, and another stands on the left side to introduce the reload- .ed slides as fast as room is made for them by the onward movement of the slide which is being fired. One or more men may be engaged in reloading the discharged slides.

The lever .I, instead of being arranged to work in vertical planes, may be arranged to work horizontally.

To provide for adjusting the elevation of the piece, the trails S T S T, of which there is one at each side, are each made of two parts, one part, S, being rigidly attached to the back of the frame A, and the other part,T, jointed by a pin, w, to the said part S, the said part T resting on the ground when the gun is in action. The two pins as m are in line, and the two parts T Tare connected at their rear extremities by a transverse bar, U, so that both will move together on their respective pins. One of the parts, T, has formed upon it, concentric with its pin on, a toothed sector, T,which gears with an endless screw, V, which works in suitable hearings in the corresponding part T, and the said screw is furnished with a handcrank, V, or its equivalent, by which to turn it for the purpose of raising or lbwering the sector, and thereby raising or lowering the rear portion of the piece of ordnance by a movement of the axle in the boxes of the wheels.

. WhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The c0mbination,with a series or system of many-chambered slides, G G, of two connected barrels adjustable upon the carriage in such manner that either may be brought to the operative position and used while the other is cooling, substantially as herein specified.

2. Combining the barrels with the carriage by means of a sliding plate, 0, constructed with rings D D, to embrace the two barrels in such manner as not to interfere with their longitudinal expansion.

3. The pawl'carrier H, furnished with two pawls, k l, and applied in combination with the ratchets on the many-chambered slidesG G, and with the hand-lever I, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified. I

4. The cocking-lever N and its dog N, applied and arranged in combination with the hammer J and hand-lever I, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

5. The letting-off lever P, furnished with a tongue, I, and springP", applied in combi-- nation with the trigger p and the hand-lever I, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

6. The stop-lever R and stop-pin '0, applied in combination with the many-ehamberedslides G G, and with the hand-lever I, pawl-carrier H, and pawls k l, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

7. The combination of the jointed parts S and T, the toothed sector T, and endless screw V, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

EBENEZER G. O. KELLOGG.

Witnesses:

J. E. PALMER, WILLIAM 0. CASE. 

